Snuffles
by Infinite Bookworm
Summary: That strange dog had always been there, watching over Harry, he didn't know where it came from, or why the dog was so protective of him. But one thing was for sure, there was something odd about that big black dog.


***Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does***

Sirius Felt numb, he could not process what he was, hearing, seeing. He couldn't believe it. James. Lily. Gone. That rat Pettigrew, who knew his animagus was so fitting. He should teach him a lesson, show him what it was like being betrayed by friends. Sirius stared at the burned out building that had once been his best friend's home. He had made up his mind. He would avenge his family. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts, come to take away James and Lily's son.

"Can I take him, Hagrid?" Sirius asked, surprising himself.

"Nope, Sorry, I'm to take him to his Aunt and Uncle's, Dumbledore's orders." Hagrid replied.

"At least use my bike, you'll get there faster."

As he watched the giant man and the tiny infant, fade slowly into the distance, Sirius felt himself overcome with grief once more. How was he going to live without James? Without Lily? His family was gone, he had lost all he had in one night. Over the feelings of grief came the uncontrollable feeling of rage, anger at Wormtail, but more than that, angry at himself, how could he not have known Peter was traitor? He hated him, he hated this whole war, and he hated Voldemort.

There was nothing he could do. Everyone was gone, James, Lily, Marlene, and now he didn't even have Peter. Even Voldemort was gone, destroyed by Harry. Harry, the small boy who looked so much like James, even as an infant, Sirius could only imagine the resemblance once the boy was older, he had Lily's eyes. The least Sirius Could do for his friends was to watch over their son. Sirius Black had just found his new purpose for living, Harry Potter, The boy who lived.

After that night, Sirius hardly ever left Privet Drive, he always kept an eye on Number Four, and watched as Harry grew. He was never treated as well as the muggle's son, what was his name, Diddly? So Sirius always tried to do things for Harry, taking care of him as much as he could.

Harry didn't know who it was who always helped him though. He didn't know the true identity of the big black dog that always seemed to watch him. He thought it was just a stray that had a fondness for him. So he grew up with the dog always there.

Sirius grew to have a certain protectiveness of the boy, and almost started to feel like he was Harry's caretaker, since the Dursley's couldn't seem to care for him. Sirius was determined to take Harry as soon as he was old enough for Hogwarts, since the muggles refused to tell him about magic and who his parents really were.

When Harry was six, he decided the dog needed a name so he started to call him Snuffles, and the name stuck. Sirius didn't mind, that just meant Harry was getting close to him. He longed to share who he really was to the boy, but he felt that would cause more trouble than it was worth. And so Sirius was content to wait until Harry was eleven, when he would finally find who he really was.

In the meantime, Sirius grew more and more into the role of Harry's guardian, following wherever he went and chasing away the bullies when they picked on harry. So the boy and the dog grew almost like family.

Harry loved Snuffles, he was the only one who was always there for him, and he seemed smarter than the average dog. He knew who Harry's enemies were, and he always protected him from them. He even acted like he knew when it was Harry's birthday, strangely enough. Bringing him small gifts of strange candies or toys he had never seen before.

Snuffles was his only friend, the only one who didn't think he was weird, the only one who take care of him and the only one who would spend time without acting like it was a chore. He wasn't scared of Dudley, and it might seem strange, but Harry felt like he could talk to the dog, so he did, often. Harry knew Snuffles was just a dog, he sometimes felt like he was so much more.

The Dursleys had never felt the need to pay attention to the big black dog who seemed so fascinated with the boy. After all, what harm could it cause, it was just a dog.

Sirius sat with anticipation that morning, on the sidewalk outside of Number Four, tail wagging slightly. It was the summer of Harry's eleventh birthday, and Sirius knew that Harry's Hogwarts letter was only days away.

However when Harry came down the front steps to greet the dog, he was less than enthusiastic. He flopped down on the sidewalk next to the dog with a sigh.

"Tomorrow is Dudley's birthday," he said. "Their taking him to the zoo, and I'm sure they will stick me with Mrs. Figgs. I really do not want to hear more about her cats."

"Talking to that dog again are you?" Dudley sneered, "You make it too easy."

Harry just put his head down, used to it, but Sirius stood and snarled at Dudley, who as soon as he saw the hug dog coming toward him, ran back to the house as fast as his fat legs would carry him, calling "Freak!" over his shoulder. Sirius sighed before sitting back besides Harry. There wasn't much he could do when it came to Dudley.

The next day Sirius waited and waited for Harry to come out to greet him as usual. However, he didn't see Harry until later that afternoon, when they got back from Dudley's birthday trip to the zoo. Sirius listened in surprise to Harry's story about the vanishing glass. He had no idea Harry was a parseltongue.

With this new information in his mind, Sirius urged Harry back into the house before running to get Harry a treat from Diagon Alley as a present.

Harry spent weeks in his cupboard as a punishment for the vanishing glass incident, when he was finally let out he spent a lot of time outside with Snuffles, waiting for the summer to end so he could finally go to a different school than Dudley.

In July the day Sirius had been waiting for had finally come. Harry had finally gotten his Hogwarts letter. However the Dursleys had taken the letter before Harry had been able to read it. Sirius was livid, and was thinking about barging into the Dursleys house and giving the letter to Harry himself.

The Dursleys still refused to let Harry see his letter and Sirius was running out of patience. The muggles should just realize that no matter what the school would just keep sending letters until they got Harry's owl. Finally one day when the letters were shooting out of the fireplace Sirius made his move. He stuck his head through the window and caught a letter in his mouth.

When Harry came out into the yard later, discouraged, Sirius trotted up to him and dropped the letter at his feet.

"Where did you get this, Snuffles?" Harry asked in shock, before breaking the red wax seal on the letter and reading it. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Harry gasped.

Sirius sighed and set his big head on Harry's knee. This was going to take a lot of explaining.


End file.
